


Just One Kiss Before We Part

by AnneAnna



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, Ben is engaged, Discussion of Wartime Themes, Engagement, F/M, Post-World War I, Rey is engaged, Reylo HEA, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Soulmate AU if you squint, gratuitous kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:55:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28392732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnneAnna/pseuds/AnneAnna
Summary: Artist Ben Solo is a War World I Veteran and is about to get married to please his wealthy family. Everything in his life seems destined to keep him in a cage.He takes a train ride that will show him exactly how much fate is playing a role in his life. Especially after encountering a beautiful stranger.A Reylo Readers and Writers Exchange Marvelous Moodboard Event
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 32
Kudos: 127
Collections: Reylo Readers & Writers - The Marvellous Moodboard Event





	Just One Kiss Before We Part

**Author's Note:**

  * For [niennathegrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/niennathegrey/gifts).



> Thank you so much to niennathegray for such a lovely moodboard. 
> 
> Thank you so much to anopendoor for reading through my work and helping me hone in the angst.
> 
> Thank you to the Reylo Readers and Writers Exchange for this event.  
> I hope you all enjoy this.

**Switzerland, Winter 1920**

Benjamin Organa Solo was a man looking for absolution, instead he was finding resignation. Resignation to life as a businessman, resignation to a marriage to a millionaire bride, resignation to a train ride to his parents’ Swiss chalet that would ensure his eternal captivity.

Ben stared out of the windows of the train car, across Lake Geneva and at the French Alps with longing. If only he could run away and hide in their majestic peaks.

Instead, as Ben often did when he felt smothered, he pulled out his sketchbook and began to draw. Art was his lifeline and the only world he could control.

He glanced around the car, hoping for an interesting subject and then he saw her, nestled against a crimson velvet seat. 

She was absolutely breathtaking. Her hazel eyes were focused on the lake with a wistful glance that echoed his own. Her chestnut hair was cropped and curled beneath a fashionable hat and she wore a neat little plaid suit. An elegant fur coat draped the seat next to her. She wore just enough makeup to highlight her pretty features and Ben couldn’t help but look at her lips. They were tempting with just a little paint and her sad smile that spoke to his heart.

If he were free, he would go over and flirt with her, he would take her to a little restaurant overlooking the lake and have fondue, soaking up _le pain_ with cheese. He would then ask her for a dance and kiss those lips with divine commitment. Maybe it would turn into something more.

But Ben was not free and so he must be content to sketch her. For several minutes he drew the plains in her face, the way the sunlight hit her cheeks, the curve of chin and the tip of her nose. But most of all he captured her eyes and the echoes of a pain similar to his own.

Then he drew her body, imagining what lay beneath the clothes lustfully wishing he could see. It would be perfection he was sure.

Suddenly, the train car slammed to a halt.

And horror of horrors, his sketchbook landed at the girl’s feet, open.

Ben had never felt so vulnerable as she blushed to the roots of her hair glancing over his sketch and then roving her eyes over his face and figure. Her eyes almost seemed to dilate. The blush deepened and Ben wondered for a moment if that was interest.

But he was engaged and this was highly improper, so Ben moved to where the girl sat and said, “‘I’m sorry it was most untoward, please forgive me.”

The girl looked down as he spoke, her dark lashes against her cheeks and said, “No, don't apologize, you have made me feel seen.”

And Ben knew exactly what she meant, so against all wisdom he sat down next to her.

“It’s terrible isn’t it, not to be seen,” Ben said.

The girl looked up at him her hazel eyes meeting his, “No one sees me, I’m just a prop, a doll, only used for my money, but somehow in your drawings, you … you captured my emotions perfectly.” There was wonderment in her voice.

“May I see more?” The girl asked boldly for it was obvious that Ben had a full sketchbook.

Ben hated showing his drawings, for they revealed his soul, but this girl was enchanting and looked at him with worshipful eyes and so he nodded.

The girl carefully turned the pages with her gloved hands and gasped as she saw pictures of the battlefront, wounded soldiers, battered and broken. The images that haunted Ben’s soul.

“You fought?” she asked.

Ben nodded and said, “My father’s an American, it was a legacy.”

The girl nodded, “My mother’s English. I was in England for the first part, it was - it was terrible.”

Ben looked at her skeptically - he could hardly believe that this beautiful creature really knew the nightmares of The War to End all Wars.

Perhaps the girl understood his questioning because she clarified, “We turned our manor home into a convalescent hospital and I would read to the men and they would tell me. They told me of life in the trenches, the gas that rendered them useless, the grenades that tore their limbs. I lost quite a few of them in the stillness of the night and watched more than one bleed to death. I wrote letters on their behalf, letting their families know that they were gone.” Pain echoed through her voice and guilt flooded Ben.

“I’m sorry. It’s just when people say they understand…” Ben couldn’t find the right words without being insulting. 

“They usually don’t and it’s a false social nicety.” The girl finished. “I know, my Swiss family thinks I’m foolish for having stayed so long and that it wasn’t ladylike to know the horrors of war. I’m to keep it to myself. They don’t want to hear my sad stories. It changed me, it helped me see that there was more than just me in this world. It challenges me to want to do something good with my life.” 

The girl sighed, “Instead I am to just sit on a pedestal and look pretty.” 

Ben grimaced, “My mother’s family just wants me to pretend it never existed. It’s too broken and uncomfortable to talk about. I’m allowed to be a brave soldier but not a broken one.” The girl squeezed his hand at this omission.

“The war is over so my soul should be at peace,” Ben sighed.

“But it isn’t, is it?” The beauty looked at him, her eyes sympathetic. No one had ever looked at Ben and understood him so well. 

Which is why Ben admitted the deepest secrets of his soul, “Never, I dream of it every night. The darkness and the blood. I can see their faces crumpling before me. I can see the villages burning of friend and foe. My commander was particularly violent and made choices to kill when he could have saved. No civilian’s were shown mercy. I am a monster.” Ben whispered the last sentence and hoped she didn't hate him. He already hated himself.

Instead she shook her head. “The only monsters are men like that who refuse to take responsibility for their actions. That is not you!” 

Ben was surprised at the strength of her voice. “But I still hate myself!”

The girl’s thumb was gentle with it’s caresses, “Because you are an artist and you are meant to capture life and not take it.”

Ben knew then. This was not just a girl to take to a cafe and exchange kisses, This, this was his soulmate. The beauty, the understanding. She was everything he ever wanted and in only a few minutes he would watch her slip away. He could not imagine marrying anyone else yet he was days away from being bound to another.

He wanted a memory between them. Life could not be so unfair to not allow him a token.

“I have something to confess.” Ben said nervously.

“‘You can speak freely.” The girl replied, still clasping his hand in hers. He wished she would take her glove off, he longed for the touch of her skin.

“I have been far more forward with you than I ought, I am getting married.” At this the girl’s eyes fell downcast and he felt her soul crumple. She tried to withdraw her hand but Ben grasped it firmly. “It is unavoidable, I don’t love her but I have to marry for my family.” Ben had never hated his family so severely.

The girl swallowed, “I understand, I too have family obligations and I have been too forward in sharing with you. There is - there is someone I have been auctioned off to.” Bitterness rang in her tone.

Ben’s heart rendered at this revelation of her status, but he was determined to absolve her of guilt.

“No!” He protested, “For I felt seen by you and you have understood me perfectly. How I wish I was free to pursue you.” 

The girl fought tears and whispered, “I feel it too.”

“It is very improper but I want, just once, to kiss you.” Ben knew he was choosing a scandalous action.

The girl blushed and unconsciously licked her lips. “I want to, believe me, I do, but there’s her for you and him for me. I doubt my fiance has been entirely faithful, he’s so cold.”

Ben would slay any one who hurt this creature.

“Just one kiss, please.” Ben pleaded. “I didn’t choose to fight in the war, I am not choosing to be a pretentious businessman, I’m not choosing to marry for money. But I am asking for this one thing.”

The girl looked at him as if something weighed on her mind. “Do you love your fiance, does she love you?” 

Ben shook his head, “She always seems so cold, so unfeeling and terribly naive, we have nothing in common.”

The girl looked thoughtful, “Just remember she may be like me, chained to an arrangement she wants no part of. No one wants to be sold off, even her.”

“I don’t want to talk about her, I want to kiss you, ” Ben protested.

The girl looked at him with a glance. “Do you really mean that, even, even if I’m not as perfect as you think I am?”

Ben caressed her hand., “You are everything I think you are, beautiful, compassionate, understanding, there is nothing you can do to make me think less of you.” Ben was frustrated, the train was pulling up to Vevey and he would have to depart, the line ended here.

“Alright, you... you may kiss me.” The girl conceded at last and then slowly slid her silken gloves off her hands and onto her lap.

So Ben bent his head and pressed his lips against hers, savoring the soft, wet entrance to her mouth. Ben had only ever kissed a few girls as a soldier in slobbery drunken moments. This was different, sweetness and desire tempting him with it’s poignancy. It awakened in him a desire to claim her, to make her his forever, passion rushed in him and he felt his lips tremble. He felt her lips tremble as well. 

He placed one hand on her cheek, delighting in it’s softness and she placed one of her hands over his, holding him still. They gazed at each other in oneness, tears gathering on her lashes. 

Then the train stopped and they pulled apart. Ben felt the loss of her heavily. More than anything, Ben did not want to lose her.

The girl looked at him and caressed his cheek with her bare fingertips, “Thank you, for seeing me, for wanting me. I have never felt so ..”

“So connected.” This time Ben finished her words.

The girl nodded and whispered, “I wish, I wish we were free.”

Ben ran his fingers through his hair and swallowed, ”I would give up everything for you if my family’s dynasty wasn’t on the line. I am exceedingly tempted to.” 

The girl stared, ”You feel that strongly about this.” Tears welled up in her eyes again and Ben’s heart ached.

Ben clasped her hands in his, skin against skin. “Yes, come with me, Italy, France, China, please. I want to see the world with you. Maybe we can even create something good, we can bring mercy and peace where there is injustice.“

The girl looked at him and swallowed, “I would gladly go anywhere with you if it was just about you and me but can we really do that to our fiancies, to our families?” Pure sorrow crossed her features.

“They can go to hell.” Ben swore and meant it. He wanted this girl and this girl alone.

The conductor motioned for everyone to leave. Ben and the girl looked at each other in hopelessness. She placed her coat and gloves back on, widening the barrier between them. 

They departed the train for the small station that had such a charming picture of the lake and snow capped mountains. The winter decorations of ribbons and bells gave it a festive look. Ben didn’t care, he just wanted this girl and he was ready to fight for her.

“So,” The girl began with dejection, but was interrupted by a loud voice. Ben’s heart fell. It was Poe, an old family friend and cousin to his intended. He would lose her now, he was sure of it. Once again the reality of his future sunk in. 

Only it was a bleaker canvas without her love. 

“Ben, _mon ami!”_ Poe shouted and clapped him on his back and turned to the startled girl, “Back so soon from shopping in Lausanne, Rey? _Ma mere_ is fit to be tied that you went alone, she was worried that you were running away _mon petit chou_ , although I can understand why you wouldn’t want to marry this fellow.” Poe hit Ben again on the back.

Suddenly with a blinding realization it clicked, and when Ben looked at the girl’s bewildered blushing face, he knew. This beautiful creature was Rey, the girl he had written sporadically for three years, cold, vacant letters written from his protesting heart. The letters were a testament to the servitude both had been placed under. But as Ben met Rey’s eyes, he knew the sudden and amazing truth, this marriage was freedom. 

“You two have met before, right? I wasn’t sure due to the war and all, but you appear to be _le meilleur des amis_ which will vastly relieve ma mere and yours.” Poe stated. 

Ben placed his arm around Rey’s delicate waste before she could utter a word and said, “We know each other very well.”

And it was true. Though their letters had been cold, the train ride had forever knit their hearts together. Rey had seen into his darkened heart and washed her light over him.

He knew she was no spoiled socialite, she was hope. 

If they hadn't met today he might have walked away from the wedding, almost losing everything.

Poe coughed and raised his eyebrows, indicating his discomfort with their closeness.

Despite this, Ben could feel Rey lean into his broad chest ever so slightly and so, with a boldness that would surprise even his closest friends, he bent down and kissed her again, this time seizing her lips with a sure possessiveness. Her lips and hands eagerly responded. Her fingers even ran through his raven locks and his fingers grazed the outline of her waist between her coat and dress. He balanced her hips with his thumbs as they pressed tightly into each other. 

“Benjamin, Rey! You’re getting married in two days! I mean, I’m all for romance, but _ma mere_ will die if she learns how improper you are,” Poe scolded.

Ben didn’t really care. He had no intention of being “proper” with the girl in his arms. They would take a very long honeymoon. The world would be theirs. Absolution was finally his.

**Author's Note:**

> Le pain = bread  
> Mon ami = my friend  
> Ma mere = my mother  
> Mon petit chou = a term of endearment but literally means my little cabbage  
> Le meilleur des amis = the best of friends


End file.
